FSFE Newsletter - February 2012

Reclaim your smartphone!

Smartphones are small computers that we carry around all the time. Unfortunately, most
smartphones are not controlled by us, the users, but by the manufacturers and the
operators. Even Android phones are being shipped with non-free software and proprietary
add-ons that usually do not work in the full interest of us. Software updates
will only keep to be available if the manufacturer still has a commercial
interest in your device. The applications available from the official market
are most of the time non-free. Nobody is allowed to study how they work and
what they really do on your phone. Sometimes they do not work exactly as you
want, but sometimes they might even contain malicious features.

Running only Free Software on your device puts you in full
control. Even though you might not be able to directly exercise all of your
freedoms, you will benefit from a vibrant community that can do it together.

FSFE is collecting information about running an Android system as free as possible. We try
to coordinate the different efforts, but we need your help with it. Join our
mailing list, update the wiki and thereby enable more people to use Free
Software on their everyday computers.

Lesson 1: Learn how to programme!

Our education team has done
solid work
in 2011, including our NL edu
campaign. Free Software permits children to learn how software works and
thus to understand the concepts underlying a whole category or type of
software. They are then prepared to adapt to any environment, which is a key skill
nowadays. In addition, we believe that the possibility to tinker does motivate children easily to learn
autonomously. Finally, Free Software allows them to understand computers in a more depth.

Sam Tuke was asked by the BBC
to comment about suggestions that the British Government may add basic
programming skills to the national curriculum, and whether this would have a
political impact on society in terms of how we interact with technology. The
education team will have a brief meeting at the upcoming FOSDEM, at the 4th
and 5th of February. You are welcome to join.

Get active: More love reports instead of bug reports!

Let us admit it, the Free Software community is often very critical. We
write bug reports, tell others how they can improve the software, ask them for
new features, and to not spare with criticism. Sometimes we forget to say
"thank you, for all your work". As in the last years, we want to change this,
at least for one day. So on Tuesday the 14th of February we will celebrate the
"I love Free Software" - Day.

Get active, buy your favourite developer a drink or give them a hug (ask for
permission first), write an e-mail/letter
expressing your feelings, create nice pictures, donate to a Free Software
initiative, use another of our suggestions or be
create yourself to show how you appreciate people, working hard to enlarge or
defend our freedom. Beside that help us to promote the activity with our banners, by e-mail,
(micro)blog or in your (distributed?) social networks.